In November of 1999 we had a unique opportunity to reach a portion of the population we never see at dog shows or other dog fairs. We were hired by Crested Butte resort to "provide ambience" for their booth at the Dallas SkiFest. The people from Crested Butte wanted to find something to draw attention to some of the activities they provide in addition to skiing, and hit upon the dogs since they have sled trips at Crested Butte. We had to scramble to get it all together as there were big dog shows in Oklahoma that weekend with majors in Siberians on Saturday and Sunday. Fortunately, we found enough members and dogs to do a good job. Participating were Bruce and Joanne Barnes with Capella, Polaris, Juno & Callisto (Friday), Leon & Carolyn Brown with Wonder, Kalee, Snazzy, and Geni (Saturday & Sunday), Marti Rhyne with Ramey (Saturday), Marcus Topps with Flash (Saturday & Sunday), and Wendy Bryson with Pepper (Sunday). The sled was courtesy of Dennis & Suzanne McFadden. We provided dogs and a sled as a backdrop for pictures – they had a digital camera there and as advertisement for the resort the photographer was taking free pictures of anybody with the sled and dogs against a picture of the streets of Crested Butte. On Saturday alone they took over 1500 pictures in the five hours we were there! If the dogs did not know "sit" and "stay" beforehand they do now! Also, one of our members (Joanne Barnes) and 2 of her dogs pulled the sled over man-made snow in front of the building for a spot on the "Good Morning Texas" TV show. The reporter asked some questions about the dogs, and the point was made that they can be destructive (one of the dogs tried to eat the reporter’s fur ruff on her parka). We also were allowed to put out brochures on the true nature of Siberians. It went very well and we are discussing doing this again next year. We all had a very good time, and thousands of people oohed and aahed over our dogs.

This is the type of picture taken.  Shown (L to R) is Bruce Barnes, Juno, Callisto and Polaris.

Shown is Polaris, Juno and Callisto.

The back of the picture gave information on Crested Butte.

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